More on Camera angles and Mr Percival

 Spelling Bingo, spelling tests, survey on spelling strategies, guess the     number (which we haven't played for a while) and then the main  emphasis of the day was on camera angles in relation to the film Storm  Boy.

 We looked again at the notes we had taken from this short  presentation done as a project by a high school student and clarified  what each type of shot was. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwbsYgZ7d-8

We then watched Storm Boy again pausing it from time to time to discuss the use of the angles to achieve different details and emotions. On Tuesday students will be using their notes to write up their mini "essay" on how angles were employed in the film.

 We also focused on what happened to Mr Percival (Gringo) after the filming of Storm Boy and read two very interesting news articles about the three pelicans who were used in the film. Gringo has passed on to Pelican heaven and the other two are still living at the Adelaide Zoo. We discussed the vocabulary and how such articles can be useful when writing about films. 

Students also had some time on their film summary pro formas in their Writers' Notebooks and did the desk change ready for the last week of term.

Here is a short excerpt from this classic film:
http://aso.gov.au/titles/features/storm-boy/clip2/#

Two students PS and KS had three lessons to work on publishing their Science reports whilst OF and BS were working on their 3D Explanatory texts.

Students who did not achieve full scores on their respective spelling tests have postcards with the one to five words they need to learn.

Make an explanatory poster about a 3D shape...moderation task

Soon we will be moderating across schools (primary and high school) looking at a students " know how" on planar and 3D shapes. Yes, it is full on, never a dull moment!  Just had a two hour staff meeting on this one. On Tuesday I talked to students about one of the major text types they need to understand  and be capable of using by the end of their grade six year, (refer to Writer's Notebook entry :http://thelittleclassroomuptheback.blogspot.com.au/2012/05/maze-grids-composite-numbers-and-more.html ) Tomorrow I will be showing the class two examples of explanatory texts focusing on pyramids and prisms,  showcasing effective use of tables,  photos, drawings,  (diagrams)  and explanations. Students will be requested to produce a poster of their own using ICT skills or good old-fashioned technology OR a mix of both to show what they know about a prisms and a pyramid and/or other amzing 3D shapes. They can use my personal camera, the class camera or their own to take a photo  or two for use in their posters. Gosh, the office is going to love me every time we print out a colour photo.  Students need to closely analyse the above posters in order to design and construct their own.  I will have Plasticine and toothpicks (good old fashioned technology) in the classroom from which they can make their physical representations. Must find the time to transport the old microwave for Plasticine-softening purposes in the next few days. Maybe tomorrow.

Maze Grids, Composite Numbers and more arrays...and Writer's Notebook

This morning, following spelling bingo, we started with a vocabulary and listening skill. I spoke to the class about the "How to increase your word power" section in Reader's Digests I used to do these religiously as a kid and eventually was scoring full scores after a couple of years of persistence.  I have just brought a whole bag of of them into the room and they will inhabit the bottom shelf in our newly acquired withdrawal area. We focused on a list of words with dog as part of their structure, eg dogmatic, dogleg, dogfight etc...

After that we hit The Writer's Notebook and discussed the major genres they need to focus on this year. Students now have the following list written out  so they can keep a tally of the text types they do and eventually publish for the portfolios.


Narrative: to entertain

Recount: to retell events or experiences

Procedure: to explain how to do something

Report: to present factual information in a logical sequence

Exposition: to persuade others to think about an issue from a
                    particular viewpoint

Explanation: explains how or why something works or happens in the world

Then we really got stuck into maths and completed three lessons. It was then off to library. In the afternoon students had time on their mould investigations and their persuasive posters promoting the war-themed picture books for older readers which are due in tomorrow.

One persuasive poster complete

I am still chasing The Lorax film/book report from four students. Two have assured me they will be handed in tomorrow. Students  now need to be firmly focused on their Science reports on their mould experiments and be chipping away at each section a bit at a time. These are due before the end of term, one month away.

Literacy Day and music options

Today was a full on literacy day with students coming and going to music options from 12 o'clock onwards. Mr Stafford's extras who came in for the afternoon were very well-behaved.

First up was Spelling Bingo, followed by 40 minutes where students finished off their responses to the newspaper editorials. The focus was on the use of rhetorical questions in the letters to the editor.

We then focused on personification. Personification involves giving human qualities to objects or animals. The work is in their Writer's Notebooks. We will be sharing the purpose and some of the aspects of this literacy book tomorrow in assembly.

Distant waves hushing...

The tower clock coughed, whirred and struck three.

The tail light blinked three times and died.

After recess and daily phys.ed students all read their pages of  the fable,The Lorax, to recreate the story a second time. The students were asked to concentrate on their posture and their delivery, paying attention to expression and clarity. There were some sterling performances and a few average ones as well. After this students completed their what, who, why where, and when notes in their Writer's Notebook. This will help them do their book reports. (synopsis, character study, and messages) Much more depth will be required when we do the Storm Boy film report after Easter.

We then looked at an example of a  synopsis (summary of the story) and discussed characterisation (physical description, personality, motives) and the central messages of the original Dr Seuss version of The Lorax. Student only had to choose only one of the two main characters to concentrate on. Some are doing The Lorax and others are looking the Once-ler.  Those students who fully applied themselves and didn't have a lot of music options should have finished the first drafts. They have literacy homework tonight to neatly write up or publish these into their presentation A3 card folded into booklet form. The second half of the card is for after we have viewed the adaption we are going to see at the cinema tomorrow.  Students will be examining  the similarities and differences between this Hollywood production and the original book by Dr. Seuss after the Easter break. We were going to do our last half an hour of t-ball but many students were out for music options, and I also decided that some of them hadn't really pulled their weight in the afternoon.

We also read the review of the latest adaption of The Lorax  by David and Margaret on the At the Movies website and then watched the trailer.

Assessment rubric each student will be given tomorrow. Assignment due one week following Easter.

By the way, here is a rebuttal of The Lorax called  The Truax sponsored by the logging industry and published by the National Wood Flooring Manufacturers' Association, which is worth looking at:
http://www.stuartflooring.com/downloads/truax.pdf

The Lorax, Writer's Notebook and more subtraction

Today was a full on day with no students going in and out of class. Crack the whip!  First up students were given  a copy of the cover of The Lorax by Dr Seuss and asked to do either a See, Think, Wonder Y chart or a Talk to the Picture on it. These visual organizers are pasted in the back of their Writer's Notebook.  We then shared our ideas and watched the animation adapted from the book. On Thursday we will be viewing the latest adaption at Village Cinema with our book buddies. Students have been given a couple of pages of the book each which they will read out in turn to recreate the book (a second visit if you like after watching the above animation). I noticed some of the texts were still in tote trays at the end of the day so those students must be confident with an off the cuff delivery  tomorrow. We  also discussed the use of personification and alliteration and assonance in relation to the text. After lunch students used the What, Who, Why, Where formula to further explore the animation. This will be continued tomorrow and used to assist them write a synopsis (summary) of the film, a character study and a discussion of the main messages the film delivers. The homework night for finishing this literacy activity will be the usual Wednesday slot. 

After recess, it was a maths focus, beginning with three Guess the number games, and then a lesson on mixed numbers as many students weren't sure about this concept. It was then time for Monster Grid 9. The subtraction lesson from Friday was then continued. Students were paired up and used the MAB to assist them in their understanding of regrouping.  Students only had  homework if they did not quite finish this activity, I will be collecting them tomorrow morning.

The afternoon started with Quiet Reading whilst I helped students scan their Marvellous Microorganism jigsaws. Some of these are outstanding. We still need to make some more boxes to house them in.  And then, as stated before students continued with The Lorax study.